LIBN inquiry ‘weighs’ on ESPN

By: LIBN Staff August 20, 2014Comments Off on LIBN inquiry ‘weighs’ on ESPN

A male player with his weight displayed

A female player without displayed weight

Though girls have been included in Little League baseball since 1974, they’ve never achieved full equality on ESPN, that is, until now.

While watching the network’s coverage of the 2014 Little League World Series, a Long Island Business News reporter noticed that the stat lines were different for males and females. When a male player came up to bat, the stats graphic on the bottom of the screen included age, height and weight. But when a female player was up, in either baseball or softball, the stats only listed age and height, glaringly omitting weight.

When called out on the practice, an ESPN spokeswoman said it wasn’t an official network policy, but a decision by producers of the broadcasts. Moving forward, the spokeswoman said the weights of female players who play Little League baseball with boys will now be included, but not for Little League softball or any other sports exclusively played by girls.

ESPN issued this statement via email: “There are several factors considered when determining which biographical details to include during ESPN telecasts and they differ from sport to sport. ESPN coverage of the Little League World Series includes various statistics and fun facts during at-bats to help introduce the players to new audiences. We’ve used height and weight for some players in Little League World Series games and we’re discussing a more uniform approach moving forward.”

Checking the rosters of some local college teams found the same disparity. Height and weight is listed on male baseball player rosters, but weight is missing from female softball rosters. The policy follows a similar pattern across other sports played by both men and women, such as tennis and track and field. The NCAA says roster information is not governed by the agency and leaves it up to each individual school.

Why shed the weight listing for females? It’s an unwritten rule, according to Ian Schraier, the athletic media relations director for LIU Post in Brookville.

“You never divulge a woman’s weight,” Schraier said. “It’s always been a respectful thing to do.”

Update: ESPN did indeed include the weight of female Little League player Mo’ne Davis Wednesday night following LIBN’s inquiry.